The two, who worked in the fields together, were hit by a Gallegos Sanitation truck at 8:30 a.m. as Wilber attempted to leave the driveway of a home and cross Colo. 14, according to police.

The 40-year-old driver of the trash truck, Clifford Adams of Red Feather Lakes, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and taken to Island Grove Regional Treatment Center in Greeley. He was not injured. Colorado State Patrol said they didn’t know if the fact that Adams was drunk contributed to the crash.

Recommended Stories For You

“I don’t know if he would have reacted differently,” said Sgt. Bob Rood of the Colorado State Patrol. “There could have been other circumstances.”

Neither Prieto nor Wilber Miller were wearing seat belts.

“My dad would never wear one,” Miller said.

The death is the 20th on Weld County roads so far this year compared to 43 on this date a year ago.

Miller’s father probably thought he could get across the road when he was hit or didn’t see the approaching trash truck, Rood said.

Adams had swerved not because he was drunk but to avoid the pickup, according to Rood. His efforts were fruitless. Adams’ truck hit the pickup on the driver’s side. The roof was ripped off.

Wilber Miller and Prieto were probably headed to work in the fields that had been in the Miller family for decades.

“My dad was always working. This was his livelihood,” Miller said, referring to the 500 acres of corn and alfalfa the family farms near Weld County Road 19.

Wilber was born about a mile from where he died. He lived off Weld County Road 80.

“He was an easygoing guy. Kind of quiet,” Miller said. “About 10 years ago he was rear-ended by a semi. He walked away from that.”